Rylo looked at her, a twitch in his lips was the only thing he revealed on his indolent face as he took a seat and motioned for the table to do the same.
“Good of you to join us this evening, Avery,” Rylo drolled, the same smirk on his face as a servant poured him a glass of honey colored wine. “Kyla, it’s always a pleasure.”
“Likewise, Your Highness,” Kyla said, taking a sip of her own wine.
“I trust you have been comfortable? Has Selene provided you with your needs?”
Avery noticed Selene tip her face toward her king from whatever held her attention down the table. Her violet eyes sparkled against her dark skin.
“Yes, of course,” Kyla said. “Selene was kind enough to join us on a hike through your mountains today.”
Avery’s hands shook as she tried to contain her growing anxiety over what Rylo would say about her sister. She couldn’t imagine how Morgan must be suffering right now as she sathere, drinking a glass of wine in a room drenched in splendor. It made her sick to think about.
“Please,” Avery squeaked out and she felt the fae man beside her shift his attention to her. Rylo looked at her as well.
“What was that, Avery?” Rylo asked, leaning back in his seat with wings draped neatly over the low chair.
“Please… Just let Morgan out.” Her voice shook, but she forced herself to continue. “She just misses our home. It’s not fair to punish her for that.”
Selene raised an eyebrow. “I’ve personally seen to your sister’s needs. She is not in any physical danger.”
This made the aching dread in Avery build. Selene could do so much worse than physical danger. Savine was a personal victim of her abilities.
“That’s not encouraging, and you know it! Just let her out. She’s suffered enough.”
Rylo’s eyes became slits as he shook his head. “She will be released when she is ready. For now, you have my assurance that your sister is in no real danger. She is alone and no one is to bother her as she convalesces.”
“Convalesce?She’s going to need to convalesce from being in your torture tower!” Avery said, her voice shaking with emotion.
“Do not speak to what you don’t understand,” Selene said. “Your sister will come back to you stronger due to her time in the Tower of Teeth.”
“I grow tired of this conversation. Due to our previous agreement, you know I cannot harm Morgan and I will release her to you in Orofine,” Rylo muttered before he turned his attention to Kyla. He wasn’t going to let Morgan out until it was time to leave this awful place. She’d failed her sister. Avery’s shoulders slumped as Rylo spoke to Kyla. “Tell me, why did you choose to change your hairstyle? It hasn’t gone without notice that you two and Morgan chose to cover your foreheads.”
“It’s an American style,” Kyla explained. “Perhaps I was trying to help the witches with their homesickness.”
Elio spoke for the first time to the group. “Or perhaps it has something to do with you disrupting our goddess. Selene shared how you dared approach her without express permission just after you altered your hair and stopped wearing headdresses.”
Rylo cocked his head to Elio. “Good point, Elio. After you wore that ridiculous headdress to supper, and now you cover your forehead with hair, I must wonder if you are keeping things from me, and seeking answers from our goddess.”
Avery had to lie for Kyla. She couldn’t let Rylo know that Althea had marked her. “Kyla’s right. Morgan and I are homesick and we convinced her to change her hairstyle with us. I was being nosy and wanted Kyla to bring the goddess down to me. I’ve never met a deity before. Apparently that’s not a thing, is it? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
Elio chuckled as he said, “You really shouldn’t indulge these humans, Kyla.”
But Rylo and Selene stared at her unconvinced. Fortunately, the servants arrived with trays of meat. It appeared to be venison, but Avery was never really sure what she was eating here. Kyla rose and walked to Avery’s side as she placed a generous portion on Avery’s plate. Her warm smile shone with gratitude as she made her way back to her chair.
Chapter 15
Morgan
The bright sunlight burned Morgan’s sensitive eyes as she clung to Selene. The air around her was cool and crisp and her scars tingled as the breeze skimmed along her exposed face. Morgan had lost all sense of time while in that cell, but came out with a clearer head than she’d expected.
Her time in the dark hadn’t been the torturous experience she’d feared. Instead, she felt stronger than she’d ever felt in her life. Nobody would believe her when she admitted that she’d faced her demons in that dark solitude and triumphed. She’d found that darkness within herself and embraced thatside of her, and now her shadows seemed to respond to her instinctively, like they were an extension of herself.
With that thought, a cool band of shadows nestled over her eyes, covering the sharp rays that stung her vision.
“It seems the time in the dark has done you good,” Selene said. “The Tower of Teeth can break some folk, but it can also forge and strengthen.”
Morgan nodded, but didn’t speak to the woman. Her shadows pranced around her face, retreating as she landed on the cool shade of Rylo’s library balcony. Selene turned without another word and flew back toward the Tower of Teeth. So much for a goodbye.
